Tarika

Tarika is in her early sixties and retired; she is married and has four children. She lives in a major city in the southeastern part of the country. Her retirement is so small that she cannot even feed herself; this was the reason that some five years back, she started operating a fast food restaurant with the hope that she would make some income. The business has been going good so far and this keeps her going; she said smiling. There is a demand for her services and she has established a good clientele amongst the residents in the neighborhood. Now, she wants to expand, and for this, she is requesting a loan to purchase inventory items.

This will be her second loan with the previous one being paid off on time. Tarika’s application had been on the waiting list at the VisionFund Albania institution for some time. Recently, she was told that she was eligible to request a Kiva loan instead. Since then, she has been buzzing with excitement.

Additional Information

About VisionFund Albania

VisionFund Albania is a micro-finance subsidiary of child hunger nonprofit World Vision International. Striving to improve child welfare, the organization offers a variety of loan products designed for rural, traditionally underserved clients and their families. These products include agriculture, business and household improvement loans, as well as "integration loans" targeted to help the poorest, most vulnerable Albanian households acquire value chain resources.

While VFA is focused on the empowerment of the poor overall, it pays special attention to women. About 60% of loans to entrepreneurs on Kiva go to women.